NEW DELHI: A 57-year-old teacher’s decision to attend Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat’s Janata Darbar for requesting a transfer landed her in jail after the chief minister lost his temper and ordered her immediate arrest.
Uttara Bahuguna was arrested on charges of disrupting an important gathering and was later let off on bail. A video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media, shows the woman requesting Rawat for a transfer saying that she had worked in a remote area for long and now wanted to live with her children.
“I do not want my children to be orphans in Dehradun and I cannot leave my job,” she is heard telling the chief minister in the video.
The footage shows the CM asking her if she had signed any guarantee when she got the job, to which Bahuguna said she had not vowed to live her life in the forest.
The riposte apparently annoyed Rawat, who shouted, “Suspend her immediately. Take her into police custody.”
The clip also shows Bahuguna screaming at the chief minister and shouting ‘cheats, thief’ as she is led out of the meeting.
“I lost my husband in 2015. I spoke to the Chief Minister but he did nothing. I asked him the reason. He suddenly raised his hand and said you are a teacher, behave yourself,” Bahuguna said.
Rawat, however, said requests for transfers should not be brought to a public platform. Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh, the school education secretary, said transfers cannot be awarded out of turn. “More than 58 people are posted in remote areas for longer duration than her. She is 59th on the list. The transfer is done turn-wise,” he said.